Vehicle Description

Pretty much a brand new 1976 Cadillac. 12,910 original miles.
Untouched paint, chrome, interior, and engine. Out of long-term
storage and fully serviced, ready to drive. Nicely documented.

This big green deVille had been sitting in a warehouse since
1978, when it was parked in the corner, covered up, and apparently
forgotten. It seems that the owner had a habit of buying new cars,
driving them for a few months, then parking them and buying
something else. And it’s not really right to call this a “barn”
find, because the facility in which it was stored was heated and
protected, not exposed to the elements, so aside from flat tires
and some dust, this Cadillac was almost perfectly preserved.

The original Kingswood Green enamel shined up beautifully and
needed nothing more than a good coat of wax to look almost like
new. There are no scratches, no chips, no touch-ups, nothing that
would suggest this car is anything than what it is. The doors,
hood, and trunk swing effortlessly on their hinges and fit better
than you remember. In fact, the door seals are so supple that
sometimes it takes a harder slam than you expect to get the doors
to close all the way. It’s accented by a white pinstripe, which is
how it was delivered, and that padded roof is pretty much like new.
Even the fender extensions and bumper filler below the rear license
plate are fully intact and not crumbling, a notorious problem for
Cadillacs of this vintage. The chrome, the stainless, the rubber
trim, it’s all pretty much like new. It’s rather extraordinary.

The green cloth interior was part of the d’Elegance package, and
the seats are just unbelievably plush. You sit down and sink in
behind the wheel of one of the very last of the giant American land
yachts. There are acres of green fabric that looks ornate yet
sophisticated and the green carpets are deep enough to swallow your
shoes. The faux wood on the door panels and dashboard is actually
fairly convincing and all the usual problem areas are unmarked:
armrests, dash pad, and steering wheel show zero signs of age.
Those are original (and irreplaceable) floor mats and all the
chrome remains bright and shiny. Even more importantly, everything
is fully operational; the automatic climate control blows cold, the
windows zip up and down, the locks thunk down with authority, and
the AM/FM/8-track stereo radio sounds surprisingly crisp and rich.
If there’s one demerit, it’s that the clock only works
intermittently, which is common on these cars. And check out that
trunk! Not only is it giant, but it’s immaculately preserved with
the original spare tire with complete jack assembly. Heck, you can
still see the part numbers stamped on the original rubber mat!

Until recently, Cadillac’s 500 cubic inch V8 was the biggest
production V8 in history. It starts almost instantly and idles
smoothly from the start, and after a few moments, it drops down to
a 500 RPM idle that’s almost impossible to detect from behind the
wheel. More than once I was afraid it had stalled while waiting at
a red light—nope, still running. Aside from routine maintenance
items that were just replaced, the engine bay is almost entirely
equipped with vintage-1976 hardware. Factory blue paint looks great
on the engine and hasn’t been heat cycled to oblivion. The belts
and hoses have, of course, been replaced, but the rest is untouched
save for the master cylinder and a fuel pump, which were needed to
get it back on the road. If you want a road map for future
restorations, this awesome deVille is a sure winner in preservation
competition.

The TH400 3-speed automatic transmission has fresh fluid inside
and a fresh pan gasket, and it shifts properly. Towering 2.73 gears
out back mean that this big car will cruise in near silence at 90
MPH all day with the A/C blasting and the only limitation is
keeping the 26-gallon gas tank full. There’s some of the usual
surface scale on the heavy metal parts, most of which was there
before the car was even off the transporter at the original
dealership. None of it is structural or abnormal on a car that
hasn’t been undercoated. You can see the original satin black paint
on the floors, and yes, even the exhaust system is completely
original! The front brakes have fresh calipers and there are new
wheel cylinders out back, which is just smart after all those
years, and new air shocks were installed out back to replace the
originals that understandably gave up (the auto-leveling system is
fully operational, don’t worry). All four tires were replaced with
fresh 235/75/15 whitewall radials, but the original tires are
included with the car if you’d like to show it in preservation
classes.

This car is also very well documented, including the original
books and manuals, plus the window sticker, which shows a sticker
price of $11,092, including more than $1700 worth of options.

These cars are gaining popularity because they’re very welcome
at big club events, they’re easy to drive, they’re bulletproof
reliable, and they’ll run with modern traffic with ease. And when
they’re as beautifully preserved as this one, you’re sure to draw a
crowd wherever you go because few people have seen a brand new 1976
Cadillac. It’s a great reminder that the quality wasn’t as dreadful
as we seem to recall and that when you owned a car like this, you
truly were The Man. Call today!

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